Acclaimed British Playwright Sir Tom Stoppard and expert brand strategist Lee Hunt are the first two keynotes to be announced for the 2015 PromaxBDA Europe Conference next month in Berlin, the association said Tuesday.

Stoppard, whose award-winning works include Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia and The Real Thing, has been a key voice of contemporary theater ever since his first full-length play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, was staged by the National Theater in 1967. Both Broadway and The West End have frequently honored Stoppard’s work; in addition to two Olivier Awards, he has won four Tony Awards for Best Play—more than any other playwright.

His numerous screen credits include Empire of the Sun, Enigma, and Shakespeare in Love—for which he won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His most recent work for television includes the 2012 BBC Two/HBO miniseries Parade’s End, which earned Stoppard both Emmy and BAFTA nominations.

His latest play, The Hard Problem, opened at the National Theater last month.

Hunt, whose New York-based consultancy focuses on brand strategy, on-air architecture, competitive analysis, and personnel training, is practically an institution at PromaxBDA’s annual June conference. His upcoming keynote appearance in Berlin, however, marks the first time will be bringing his signature strategic insights to the association’s European membership.

Hunt began his career in the 1980s by launching and branding U.S. cable networks Lifetime, VH1 and TNT, before founding a successful creative services agency, Lee Hunt Associates, in the 1990s. He sold LHA to digital services company Razorfish in 1999, and founded his strategic consultancy in 2001. Hunt’s work in launching and positioning numerous channel brands, as well as his innovations in the field of audience management, are considered standard-setting by many industry observers.

The 2015 PromaxBDA Europe Conference will take place March 23-24 at the InterContinental Berlin. The annual conference is the European entertainment industry’s premiere event for marketing, promotion, and design professionals to share ideas, discover cutting-edge marketing techniques, and network with colleagues from across the continent. The gathering will culminate with a gala event marking the 2015 PromaxBDA Europe Awards, the annual celebration of the European market’s finest work in television promotion, marketing, and design.

PromaxBDA leads the global community of those passionately engaged in the marketing of television and video content on all platforms, inspiring creativity, driving innovation and honoring excellence. The association represents more than 10,000 companies and individuals at every major media organization, marketing agency, research company, strategic and creative vendor and technology provider and is considered to be the leading global resource for education, community, creative inspiration and career development in the media marketing sectors. PromaxBDA is the publisher of Brief and Daily Brief.

Photo of Sir Tom Stoddard, above left: Matt Humphrey

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